Back
by Phoenixfire63a
Summary: Neku and his family have moved to Canada. Neku wants to go back, so Joshua says he'll bring Neku back to Japan... if he plays the game again. Rated t to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

It _was_ cold.

Neku shivered, wiping snow from his trademark collar. _It's okay,_ he thought. _I'm getting used to it._ _To the cold_. Two weeks earlier, Neku and his family had made the permanent trip from Japan to cold Canada, much to his distaste. He remembered his parents saying something about a job oppertunity.

Neku shivered again, wondering about his friends. It was non-stop action in the UG, from kicking the asses of noise, to shopping, to tin pin, to ignoring Joshua, to the final battle that lead Neku to where he is today. But afterwords, he had wanted to see the friends he had made in the process. Instead, he was stuck up here in Canada.

"Having fun?" An all to familiar voice asked. Neku whirled, as he was deep in thought, and he hadn't heard anybody sneaking up on him. It probably wouldn't have mattered. Standing behind him was the ever obnoxious composer, Joshua.

"Why are you here?" Neku growled with mild ferocity. Ever since Neku was put through the game, he didn't know what to think of Joshua. On one hand, Neku hated him for being put through the game. On the other hand, much to his confusion, he kind of appreciated what Joshua did, the exactly same thing he hated him for. Neku lost a lot in the game, but gained a lot more.

" What, can I not visit an old friend?" Joshua teased. Neku muttered something under his breath about shooting friends. Twice.

" What do you want?" He demanded, in typical Neku fashion.

"I have a deal to make" Joshua claimed."About how to get back to Japan. " Suddenly Neku was all ears.

" Oh?" He asked, trying in vain not to sound interested.

"Mhm" Joshua said, purposely stalling." It's really interesting" "Well, what is it?" Neku asked.

" something really cool..." Joshua announced.

"Get to the point already!" Neku snapped, tired of Joshua's antics.

"alright" Joshua cut to the chase. "You enter the game again, and if you win, I'll get you back to Japan." Neku couldn't believe what he was hearing. Enter the game, again. That game. The one still haunting him.

"Why" he stuttered, not able to say anything more.

"You see," Joshua explained, "Each conductor needs to play a full game as a test to see if they are worthy of being one. I need a proxy, and you seem best for the job." Having overcome his short term shock, Neku asked a question:"

If I supposedly did this, who would be my partner?" Joshua thought about it, used his ability as a clever bastard, and said

"who knows , Neku, who knows."

"What about my parents?" Neku asked." They had one heck of a meltdown when I got home last time." Joshua replied

" I can take care of that. You would need to focus on the task at hand. After all, didn't you miss the UG?" Ignoring Joshua's comment, Neku thought about it. Neku thought about the hell he went through, and the people he lost. Then he thought about the friends he made in that hell, and the fact that they were a few thousand miles away on a floating island called Japan. He thought about all that and the he told Joshua

"I'll do it, and I feel bad for anyone who stands in my way."

Hello! I would be Phoenixfire63a, but call me Phoenix63. This happens to be the first chapter of my first fanfic! Please r&r for me!


	2. Birds

Chapter 2

Neku's eyes flew open. He got up and looked around. Scramble Crossing, he thought. Again. Neku groaned. Why did he agree to do this again? Suddenly there was a sharp pain in Neku's back. He whipped his head behind him and there happened to be a noise. "Gotta find a partner." Neku muttered. He started calling out "Hey! Is anybody left!? I need a partner!" It was okay if he made a commotion, the only people who would hear him were players, and that's what counts. Neku checked Hachiko, then the department store. That was all he was allowed. Neku finnialy got an answer to his call with a shout "over here!" Neku turned around. There was a boy behind him. He looked 1-2 years younger than Neku and was in jeans, a red t-shirt, and had a white cap on. He had wavy brown hair that went to his eyebrows, and matching eyes. With ghost white skin, he was seemingly foreigner. He was currently bouting with some frog noise. "Make a pact with me!" Neku shouted, hoping that this boy didn't have the same entry fee as Neku's last game. "Fine!" Apparently this boy didn't lose his memories. The light flashed, and the noise went away. "Hello." Neku said, still cautious to trust anybody. "Hi." The boy replied." My name is Ian. Ian Stytz." "Neku Sakuraba. How much do you know about the game?" Neku was blunt in typical Neku fashion." Well," Ian said, " I know about the noise, reapers, partners, missions, and there's something called a psych. I don't know much about that." "A psych is what you use to fight the noise." Neku explained. "Each person has a unique psych, and you need s partner to use it." Neku was very thorough with his explanation, as too much was at stake. Joshua did not let him go without an entry fee, and there was no doubt that Neku's most valuable thing is what Joshua took. "Hmm" Ian thought, snapping Neku out of his train of thought.

"what?" Neku asked. " I'm just thinking." Ian replied. "What is my psych? You seem to have yours." Ian was puzzled in the matter."Yeah." Neku decided to relent some information. "But this isn't my first time. " Ian was quiet, thinking about this. Just then, their phones wrung. Neku checked his. " Flock to Big Ben. Fly time 90 minutes. Chickens shall be eradicated." What a weird text, Neku thought.

" Hmm" Ian thought out loud. "Big Ben is a famous clock tower in London. What does London have to do with this? Neku, what are a few popular landmarks in Shibuya? I don't know as i'm a foreigner, which you probably noticed." Neku was taken off guard by his partner's change of attitude. He quickly gave off the hotspots of Shibuya." Dogenkenza, Pork City, Moloco, 10-4, and-" "that's it!" Ian shouted, much to the bewilderment of Neku. "What?" Neku asked impatiently."10-4! Ian exclaimed. "At Big Ben, the hands of the clock are frozen at 10 and 4!" Ian was practicly jumping up and down in excitement. Neku muttered something about non-creative reapers under his breath and ventured on. "Let's go then."

What the boys failed to notice, however, is that a single owl was hovering above them, recording their every move.


	3. The GM

Chapter 3

As Ian and Neku headed for 10-4, Ian asking numerous questions about the landscape, when suddenly Ian hit a wall.

"Owww!" Ian yelled, feeling an electrical shock from the invisible barrier.

"Oops." Neku said. "I forgot to tell you about walls. Walls are things blocking the area. See the guy in a red jacket?" Ian nodded "He gives the task to us. When we beat it we can pass. They usually give it on a whim. On the first day, we usually can go now." Again, Neku was almost OOC with his explanation, but with him being a veteran at the game, he knew to 'trust his partner'. To follow that, he needed to get his partner on the same page he was.

"Funny" Ian said, clawing at the air he could now reach." While entering the 104 area, their timers vanished. Neku walked into 10-4, automatically heading toward wild boar. Ian trailed behind suspiciously. He eventually asked

"Neku?"

"yes?" Neku detachably answered,

his head buried in a tin pin magazine. After all, reapers can't go in stores, and neither can noise.

"Well," Ian cautiously claimed." There seems to be a silver-haired kid with a blue shirt following us." Neku slowly looked up at Ian, starred at him for a few seconds, and face-palmed.

"I'll deal with him." He sighed. Joshua, again, was screwing with him. What could it be know? He walked over too Joahua and asked

" what do you want?"

"Looks like I'm busted." Joshua giggled.

"I said, what do you want?" Joshua had a way of pushing Neku's buttons.

"Well, just making sure everything is in order" Joshua admitted." Minamoto was not the only one to try to step out of line. Well, who can blame him?" Joshua then looked up. "The game master this week is quite intresting. However, he is a bit of a bird brain." Joshua giggled and then paused. "Your entry fee is fine, by the way." Neku internally exhaled, as this was a worry for him." At least, I think." Joshua continued. He then winked at Neku and dissapeared before Neku could say anything. 'That bastard...' Neku took deep breath.

Ian walked over and asked"Who was he?"

Neku took another big breath and said "Ian?"

"Yes?" Ian was puzzled , again, about how his partner was acting.

"If you ever see that boy again..." Neku was about to say 'don't trust him', but Mr. Hanekoma's words rang in his head.'Trust your partner' He thought. Neku kept going.

"Be cautious about him."

"Did you know him?" Ian asked. That boy seemed strangely dangerous for one his age, not to mention size. He as also seemed quite annoying.

"Yeah..." Neku didn't know where to begin. "His name is Joshua." Ian pursued him for answers, but Neku had those infamous walls of his up, so Ian got nothing. The two of them exited 104 and walked outside. Ian glanced up in the sunlight.

"Look, an owl!" He said in surprise.

Neku glanced up and yelled to Ian "Duck!" Ian him the deck, right before the owl swooped at him. The owl silently flew away.

While the two boys were watchng the owl, a man riding a blue-and-black boss raven had somehow snuck up on the two boys from behind them.

"Well hello." The man said. The two boys whirled around and instinctively tensed up. "How are you?" The man continued, apparently set on making small talk.

"And you are...?" Ian stated, unaware of the knowledge his partner had.

"He's the GM, Ian." Neku informed his partner.

Inside he thought 'bird brain? Joshua, you bastard. I still haven't forgotten your trigonometry talk with pi face.' The game master continued.

"Pleased to make your aquantince, my name is sparrow. As you have guessed, I am the game master. It is polite to introduce yourself to the competition, no?"

"Competition? Don't tell me you view this as a game?" Ian challenged.

"It's a game to him."Neku confirmed. "It is to all reapers. There may be a ulterior motive here and a determination there, but in the end, to them, it's a game. That's why they're reapers. "

"Quite right, young chick." The game master rose into the air on his noise. "But alas, you are not the only ones I have to greet. However, I will leave you with a parting gift." A rihno noise appeared, way ahead of schedule.

Neku glanced at his partner. Ian still doesn't have his psych. 'This is bad' he thought. Then the battle began.


	4. Pressure

Chapter 4

Hey, guys! This is Phoenix63! In this story so far, I've used 3rd person time, I'm going to try to alternate 1rst person views and hopefully soon rewrite the rest. I also just realized I havent commented since the first chapter, a sad thing indeed. I also noticed that my chapters are a tad short. So now, I will try to put a little conclusion every time, AND make every chapter from now on at LEAST a thousand words. Until next time, Phoenix63 out!

Neku

'This isn't going well.' I thought after the combined health bar dipped into my end. They had been battling for oh, thirty seconds. Neku used a 'Jupiter of the Monkey' Vulcan uppercut to drive up the monster's behind. 'Ian must be terrified. ' I thought. 'Frankly, so am I.'

Ian

I was panicking. I happened to be facing this freaking rhino that was a lot stronger than it looks. Which was pretty strong. I dodged the noise's horn/blade, and in turn used the one pin I could use: pyrokinesis. The noise wasn't even fazed. It roared and stabbed me in the gut. I fell back. My body felt fuzzy and weak. I felt Neku use a healing pin for the third time and mentaly apologized to my partner. 'You picked the wrong one' I mentaly chided Neku. The rhino gracefully guided me back to earth with another stab in the gut.

'There was no way I'll make out of this alive. I'm sorry, guys.' I was accepting my fate. Then I remembered. Remembered about him. Him. Anger boiled up somewhere inside me, and all of a sudden, fire sprouted from my hand like a tornado. "Whoa!" I yelled.

The rihno yelled for the last time. It then fizzled into static and died. Neku and I appeared in the UG. All was still.

"You found your psych. " Neku claimed. "Because the last blow wasn't me. "

"Yeah." I agreed, rather suprised about his psych. If I could master this, the possibilities are endless! I was about to ask Neku if he had any thoughts on his psych, but suddenly I felt tired. Very, very, tired. I fluttered my eyes, and willed myself to open them. My eyes flew open. We were in scramble crossing!

I sat up and looked around. 'Neku's still asleep,' he thought. 'and I haven't been trampled, so we're still in the game' . Neku woke beside me and instinctively checked his phone.

'I hadn't thought of that' I thought. I checked my own phone for anything. Suddenly, it beeped.

"Here it is." I tensed.

Neku

"Defend Pork City. No time limit. Chickens shall die and be roasted. Grudges optional."

"Defend Pork City?" Ian asked me. I shrugged. "I've never gotten a mission like this before." I thought about the mission. We're probobly defending from noise, but what are we defending? It says Pork City, but what in it? The entrance? And no time limit? Are we supposed to last through the day? And grudges optianal? I don't even want to know! That bastard Joshua COULD'VE given me some info so I could survive his game, but nooo. He's got to make it 'interesting' while he watches from above. I shook my head. Thinking too much about this would get me nowhere. I turned to Ian and said

"I know where it is. Follow me."

Ian

I was freaking. Again. I understood the mission, but grudges optional? That could be... I looked over at Neku. He also seemed lost in thought. Neku then turned to me and said "I know where it is. Follow me." He seemed upset.

We ran towards Pork City, but being held back by my desire to take in the layout of the town. They ran past 104 into dogenkenza. From there we entered the Pork City building. Panting and out of breath, Neku and I looked up. There were at least 20 players there, all in all. Some looked rough, some timid, and some, thankfully, looked determined.

Neku

"I didn't know there were that many left." Ian panted. He was able to keep up with me.

Seeing that there was no definite leader, I raised my voice and yelled "Hey!" Everybody turned to me.

"Every person here is a player, and everybody got that text!" I shouted." We know what were up against, but not for how long. Prepare yourself for the worst. When the noise start coming in, form in a semicircle around Pork City. Anybody injured head towards that dirction. If you have a psych that's exclusively for melee, stick to the front lines. Anyone with a psych that works for both, right behind them. Any ranged psychs are after that. We will survive!" And with that one final shout, the first elephant turned around the corner. There had to be 6 following suit, with 10 kangaroos apeice. Each kangaroo had at least 5 ravens with them. 'Oh shit' I thought.' This is gonna be bad. Then I hopped down in to join the front lines.

I finished my third elephant off and wished for the upteenth time that I had a combo pin with Ian. I was having difficulty without it. The battle itself was weird, to. For some reason, everybody could fight everything. Groups of people could fight a noise together, as the noise had no symbols, just their forms. Anyway, the rest of the battle was going ok. A group of pyrokinesis users, including Ian, took down another elephant. The healers were not being mobbed. Some awesome psychokinisis guy was making huge walls out of cars and traffic cones and then throwing the walls, shotgun style, at the enemy. Then the new wave came in, double the size of the first. I swore again and then squinted. There was somebody on one of the elephants. A few others turned their attention to the rider. I then then heard a scream of rage. It was Ian. 'huh?' I thought. 'What's with Ian?' Suddenly, I heard a giggle beside me. I whirled around, but there was nobody there. Still, I could of sworn I had heard a 'have fun, Neku...' I swore, then remembered Ian, and turned my attention back to the scene.

Ian was slowly walking towards the rider. Most of the other players were watching in shock or preoccupied with noise. I was wondering what the hell Ian thought he was doing. If that rider was a reaper, they were all toast. My level reset when I left the game, and the only reason I could take down elephant noise was because I was experienced. I couldn't do a reaper, though.

"You." Ian growled. Just loud enough for me to hear him. In the short time I had been with him, I had no idea he could get so pissed. I'm ussually the one's that pissed.

"You!" Ian shouted again. He obviously knew this mystery rider, eho had just gotten close enough for me to see. He had white skin, such that I could tell he was foreigner again. He had red hair, with a black and red t-shirt on to match. Finnialy, he wore plain jeans. Neku was distracted by a huge shadow overhead. I glanced up, and it was the GM! Why the crap was he here!? The gamemaster settled down on the roof of cosmic corner.

"And just why are you here?" He asked, polite yet seething. For a second I thoight he was talking to me, then I realized he was talking to the rider. "You are not supposed to be here." The GM continued, still in that calm-but-furious manner.

"I'm not a reaper. You can't stop me." The rider finnialy spoke. His voice, yes a he, spoke cocky and lighthearted. He seemed to have no qualms about the GM getting in his face. But anyway, what is he? If not a reaper, what? Was he the Conductor? No, a GM would never speak to a conductor like that. I would've kept thinking about it, but what I saw next killed my thought process.

Ian

Him. Him. Why was he here!? I wish... but I can't... i'm not ready. (I wish those last two phrases were things I had acctually thought. I would have saved me a lot of trouble. But I was too angry. ) I stormed up the road to Dogenkenza, fists clenched. I mentaly prepared myself for what I was about to do. 'This time, finish it.' I was so mad, I didn't even care if the GM interfered. Wait, the GM? I was brought back to earth for the first time in 5 minutes. Why is the GM here? Furthermore, why is he lecturing Gavi-him. That name that must not be spoken. Even with all my storming, I was placed in the back in the beginning of the battle and couldn't hear them. The GM better watch what he says, though. It could end up badly. He was not one you should mess with. I have calmed down, and should withdrawl for now. I walked away, never taking my eyes off the deadly duo in front of me. However, as I predicted, there would soon only be a deadly one.


	5. Ian's friend

Hello there, folks! After updating chapter 4, I am back. I am SO sorry for not uploading. I acctually had this ready before halloween, but my beta reader isn't responding. I will be quicker in the you haven't seen the newnchapter four, please do so! There's at leasg 500 words added to chapter you will have no idea what I'm talking about. Also, for the first time ever, we will have Joshua's P.O.V.! Anyway, on to the story.

Chapter 5

Neku

It seemed that Ian had calmed down, for he walked up to me to tell me something. He walkedwith a limp. He stopped in front of me and whispered "I'll explain afterwards. " I gave a curt nod and turned my head towards the red faced GM. I mean, the guy was a freaking tomato.

"Get. Out. Now." Apparently the GM was at his wit's end, because he looked like a bomb ready to blow. And we would be in range. I glanced around me. Everybody had finished up dealing with their share of noise, and had turned their attention to the conversation. The mob this person had brought with him had not attacked yet. This was probably good. Most players seemed weary of the GM, because Ian and I were ahead of the rest of the group by about 20 feet, an impressive feat due to our lack of space. Suddenly, there was a snapping sound, and as I looked towards it's direction, Ian and I were then sent flying by a powerful gust of wind. We flew back and hit Pork City's wall. The breath was knocked out of me, and Ian hit, and burst through, a door. I looked up dizzily, and sudenly felt better. A healer had helped me out and was now focusing on Ian. Funny, we were the only ones that were knocked back. That was because we were the only ones still out of Pork City. Everybody else had seen it coming. Seeing that Ian was now alright, I turned my head back to whatever the heck blew us away. No less than six boss ravens were starring back at me. The shit had hit the fan.

Ian

I saw the boss ravens materialize and winced. There was a lot I was going to have to tell Neku after this. I walked up behind Neku and tapped his shoulder. He turned around and gave me a quizzical look.

"We need to go to the back of the room" I told him. More quizzical looks. "We don't want to be caught in the crossfire." A look of understanding flashed across Neku's face, and he promptly notified all the people present to go to the back of the room. When people asked why, he would point to me and I would nod. That worked. I guess people had branded me the 'one who knows what's going on.' I hurried to the back and then looked at the door. I sighed. 6-6=0. It was like him to kill them without making any noise. Then the wall I was looking at happened to cave in. The rubble bounced around the room, and it was a small miracle the building didn't collapse. A piece of shrapnel scrapped my face, and smoke clouded the room. It was hard to breathe. I started to see other people. Most people were starring at me, probobly wondering what would have happened if they had remained where they were. Others included people unconscious on the floor, people, horrifyingly, dead on the floor, partnerless people, and healers, which were being overworked today. Then I saw Neku. Neku got hit with a brick. It hit him in the stomach, and he was currently lying on the floor, wheezing. I ran to him. He seemed okay, and considering what would have happened if that brick hit him a few feet higher, or lower, for that matter, he was in decent shape.

"I'm fine." He wheezed. I would have argued, but I knew I had bigger fish to fry. I flagged down a healer and scurried off. I had to do something.

Neku

So, Ian, that bastard, abandoned me. He probably was scouting the situation and/or knew what was going on. He was going to have a lot to explain after this. The healer finished doing his job and scurried away. They really were getting overworked. I got up and heard a chuckle. I turned around and there he was: the rider, standing among the rubble like he had been here the entire time. He held out his hand.

"My name is Gavin. Nice to meet you." The rider stated. Heads turned like lightning, and horror dawned on many faces. I hesitantly took his hand. As soon as I took my hand away, a white beam engulfed Gavin. When it went away, he was gone, and there was a perfect circle clear of rubble in his wake. The rest of the players immediately started chatting about this being another power of Gavin's, but I knew better. That was Joshua. But my last question was: where was Ian? Then I hit the ground asleep, as did everybody else.

Ian

I thought Gavin was still fighting with the GM. I later learned that I was incorrect. Anyway, this was the perfect time to go get 'that.' I shivered at the thought. I snuck around the rubble. And moved towards Gavin's elephant. It was the only on with a saddle. It should have been somewhere... here. On the saddle, there was a compartment with a knife in it. I grabbed the knife and slipped it in my pocket. I carefully closed the compartment. Then, a white beam engulfed the Pork City building.

"What the?" I muttered, and hit the ground snoring.

Joshua

This had never, in my time, happened before. Sure, a few dumb ones have challenged a GM before, but nobody had killed one before. Intresting. I wonder how you will handle this, Levi. But first, a few necessary precautions. As Minimoto would've said, delete the anomaly and restart the 000s. Fuu fu fu. As those things were done and I flew away, I realized the irony of my situation. Neku would have a cow.


End file.
